The Tale of Hideyoshi Washuu
by purpleswans
Summary: Yoshitoki Washuu has done everything he can to keep his son safe. After the raid on a certain coffee shop, he finds out it wasn't enough.


Yoshitoki knew something was wrong when his phone went off.

Normally a phone call wouldn't be ominous, but this was unexpected. He rarely ever got messages unrelated to work, and most of those were short texts asking to join some meeting. Every so often his father, Tsuneyoshi, would nag him about some family matters, or his wife would call to check up on him. Both of these people knew not to bother him because of the raid on the 20th ward he had just finished leading, and anyone who had business with him relating to work were currently with him.

It was an actual phone call, something that he rarely ever saw. The number wasn't in his contacts, so Yoshitoki couldn't even begin to guess who it was or what they wanted.

Yoshitoki walked a little ways off and put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

The only sound coming through the phone for several minutes was haggard breathing. Yoshitoki was about to dismiss it as a prank call when a soft, weak voice spoke up. "Dad?"

Yoshitoki froze. No, this wasn't possible. "Hide? What are you– Why aren't you using your cellphone?" He looked around to make sure none of his coworkers were listening in. "Listen, it isn't a good time. We can meet up tomorrow or something..." He was still stubbornly clinging to the hope that this was a misplaced social call.

"Dad-" Hide interrupted. "I messed up. I really, really screwed up this time." The boy's voice broke into a sob at the end. He had to be crying.

Yoshitoki's hand clenched. Of course his worst nightmare had become true. It had been too much to hope that the boy had gotten out with the rest of the civilians before the first large-scale raid in the 20th ward in decades.

"Where are you?" Yoshitoki could see that Marude was coming this way, but he was just going to have to wait. This was more important.

* * *

The Nagachika family wasn't anything like the Washuu clan. They were primarily middle class, didn't get involved in anything extremely dangerous, and weren't preoccupied in their role in the country. Maybe that was precisely why Yoshitoki grew to love their daughter. She was so different from what he had known his entire life; a breath of fresh air he hadn't realized he needed and an exotic beauty he couldn't comprehend.

The Nagachikas loved Yoshitoki's gentlemanly charms, but the Washuus weren't as supportive. They had made a deal with a prominent German family years ago that depended on Yoshitoki marrying their daughter. They believed that his fiancée was just a gold digger who wanted the Washuu status. They protested the marriage until the wedding day and tried to convince them to divorce. They even went so far as to threaten to disown him.

"Fine," Yoshitoki had replied. "Good luck finding another heir."

Of course, that made them reconsider.

Everything changed when they found out the young couple were expecting. Suddenly, they wanted to be involved in everything. They made sure she was going to the best obstetrician in the country. They invited the soon to be parents to stay in the main house. They threw an amazing baby shower. When their tiny boy was born and named Hideyoshi, they made sure he was cared for by a team of nurses and midwives. The baby was almost never left alone, and even Tsuneyoshi took some time to play with his grandson.

Yoshitoki's wife thought it was nice that their son had changed the family's mind about them, but he knew better. He could see what they wanted. Hideyoshi was destined to be a future head of the family, and they wanted to make sure he would fit their image of what a Washuu should be. When he grew up, he'd go to the academy and join the family business. Before he knew what was happening he'd be stuck fighting ghouls for the rest of his life.

Yoshitoki didn't want that life for his son. At the earliest opportunity he planned on getting the boy out of there.

* * *

Yoshitoki sprinted to the street intersection Hide had given him. Marude was trailing behind, insistent that his missing intern should be Yoshitoki's focus right now. It probably would be easy to get him to shut up by simply explaining that this was Yoshitoki's son, but no one at the CCG outside the family had heard about Hideyoshi in years and it should stay that way.

Soon Yoshitoki saw the barely operating payphone he'd received the call from earlier. As he approached it, the slumped figure of a young boy became visible. He was leaning up against the dirty translucent walls, his posture slouched at an odd angle that couldn't be comfortable. His CCG armor was torn up and falling apart, and there was a congelation of blood near his shoulder.

Yoshitoki kneeled down next to his son. Up close, it somehow looked worse. It was a wonder the boy was still breathing. "Oh Hide," he gasped, "what happened to you?"

Hide was crying, his salty tears leaving trails of grime across his face. "It wasn't his fault," the boy sobbed. "He didn't want to do it, he just couldn't help it."

"Alright, alright." Yoshitoki tried comforting his hysteric son. "We'll get you to a hospital, you'll be okay. It'll be alright." He heard someone come up behind him, most likely Marude. "Call a medical team, Marude."

The other investor was frozen. "Nagachika?"

Yoshitoki turned to look at his old friend and comrade. There was absolutely no reason why the other should know his wife's maiden name. Unless he had become familiar with Hide. Suddenly, all of the information about Marude's "investigator assistant" made sense.

Hideyoshi was still babbling. "It was the surgeon and that girl. I knew something was off about her, but-" He choked out a sob. "Please, you can't kill him. I've told you, you know what kind of person he is. He's in so much pain and it isn't his fault."

Yoshitoki didn't have a clue what he was talking about, but that didn't matter right now. "Marude, make yourself useful and get a medical team."

* * *

One day, when Hide was 5 years old, Yoshitoki decided to come home from work early. He'd reached a dead end on a case, and wanted to go home and spend time with his son. It would help him distract himself and get a new perspective, plus he would probably be putting in overtime when they finally made a breakthrough.

He knew something was wrong the minute he was in the door. Normally, one of the house staff would great him, or at least he would hear whoever was looking after Hide shout out where they were. But today, the house was eerily silent. He couldn't even heard a distant clattering from the kitchen. Each of Yoshitoki's steps echoed through the large house as he made his way to Hideyoshi's room.

A few doors down from his destination, he began to hear his child's voice. "—That's the heart, right? But the lungs are right next to it..."

Yoshitoki wasn't looking where he was walking, and almost tripped over a large black ball-shaped object on the floor. Upon closer inspection, Yoshitoki realized there was a dark liquid staining the black cloth surrounding whatever the object was. He unraveled the cloth wrapping with his toe, and saw what it was covering.

An unknown voice came out from the child's bedroom. "Yes, that's right. You're a very smart kid, aren't you?"

Yoshitoki gripped his quinque case tighter and lightened his footfalls as he got closer to Hide's room.

Hide's giggled, his childish innocence showing through. "Thanks, Mister! You know, that thing with all the body parts is really interesting! And so realistic, it even has lots of blood!"

Yoshitoki was now right next to the doorway. The door was slightly open, and Yoshitoki had about 30° of visibility in the room. Hide was right by the door, which would be important for what Yoshitoki planned to do. Unfortunately, he still couldn't see the other occupant.

"I wonder though, mister," Hide continued to speak to the same person as before, but there was a shift in his voice. Someone who wasn't exceptionally familiar with the boy would be able to recognize it, but Yoshitoki knew his son. This was the tone Hide used whenever he knew something serious was going on, but didn't want to let everyone know he understood how much trouble he was about to get into. Usually this tone was reserved for breaking up the subtle arguments common at the dinner table, but now it was being used in a more dangerous situation.

"Could you tell me what happened to the head?"

 _I know_ , Yoshitoki thought grimly.

The other person in the room laughed. "You really want to know? Come on, I'll show you. It's right out in the hallway."

Loud footsteps approached the door from what Yoshitoki could figure was about halfway across the room. If he didn't move now, he'd loose the element of surprise. He had one chance to save his son, he couldn't afford to waste it.

In one fluid motion, Yoshitoki threw open the door, threw himself between Hide and the invading Ghoul, and unleashed his Quinque. The ghoul, who had been reaching for the door, stumbled back in shock.

Hide squealed gleefully, "Daddy! You're home."

The ghoul's eyes widened. "Shit." The monster must have realized just how outclassed he was, because he sprinted to the back of the room to jump through the glass window. Yoshitoki had to stop his chase before it had really began to shelter Hide from the flying glass shards.

The boy was trembling in his father's arms. He reached out with his little hands – how tiny and delicate they were - and clutched Yoshitoki's forearms. There was a part of the ghoul investigator that wanted to chase the ghoul and hunt it down, but he knew his son needed him right now. Right now, it was more important that he got Hide calmed down, so he wrapped his arms around the sobbing child and just held him.

After a while, Hide looked up to ask his father a question. "Daddy, do you know where Ms. Funahara is?"

Ms. Funahara. She was Hide's current tutor and Nanny. She was the one who was supposed to be watching him. She was one of the few people who got along with both Yoshitoki's wife and father.

And it was her head that Yoshitoki had almost tripped over earlier. It was her body that was currently sprawled out over the floor of Hide's bedroom.

Looking at the boy's eyes, Yoshitoki understood that Hide already knew these things. He was an exceptionally bright child, almost too bright. He probably already knew that his Nanny was dead, but was still clutching that hope that everything could go back to normal, like a child pretending to believe in Santa long after their friends have figured it out.

Yoshitoki swallowed. "I'm sorry, but I don't think Ms. Funahara will be able to see you again."

There was no concept of childhood in the Washuu clan.

* * *

"I didn't know" Marude insisted, for the hundredth time.

"That still doesn't excuse what you did." Yoshitoki flatly replied.

"Well how was I supposed to know? You didn't even tell me you had a son besides Matsuri!"

"That isn't the point!" Yoshitoki's voice was rising, high enough to catch the attention of other hospital visitors in the hallway. "He was untrained! A delivery boy you'd taken advantage of and stuck in the unorthodox position of 'assistant investigator.' What the hell even is that? And somehow, you decide it would be a good idea to bring him into a raid."

"That damned Owl was there! It was all hands on deck. We needed every person we could get our hands on. I asked him to take part, and he didn't object."

Yoshitoki turned away from his old colleague. "Just get out. I don't want to see you, I don't want your excuses. Go clean up this mess at the office."

Marude sighed and went to open the door. He knew it was pointless to argue with the distraught father. Yoshitoki just sat down and held his unconscious son's hand, praying that the boy would wake up soon and be alright.

* * *

Right after the incident with Hide and the ghoul, Tsuneyoshi had asked Yoshitoki to bring Hide into the library so they could find out exactly what had happened from Hideyoshi's perspective.

"Well, I heard something downstairs, and Ms. Funahara left to check out what was going on." Hideyoshi was sitting on large armchair much too big for him. He'd calmed down by that point, and was swinging his feet in childish innocence. "Mr. Kogami came into my room and introduced himself. He said he was my new tutor and brought in something to show me the body parts. I thought it was weird since Ms. Funahara hadn't taught me much about that, and the thing he used to teach smelled and felt funny. I didn't want to tell him that though, and when I finally asked him about the head he said he'd get it. That's when Daddy showed up and Mr. Kogami ran away."

Tsuneyoshi observed his grandson with no obvious signs of concern. "Did the intruder do anything else? Tell me everything, even the smallest detail could be important."

Yoshitoki thought that his father was being too hard on the 5-year-old, but knew that it was pointless to call him out on that so just bit his tongue.

Hide thought about it for a minute. "He mostly used the thing to show me the body and used a lot of big words- He mentioned that some people have other parts that he couldn't show, right beneath the skin on the back." Suddenly, the boy's face had brightened. "That's right! Mr. Kogami said he had a son about my age, and wanted to introduce me to him! He said he'd come pick me up sometime later so we could have a playdate."

Yoshitoki stiffened in his position behind Hide. That monster was planning on coming back? No way in hell was he letting it touch his son again. He ended up taking over the investigation on that particular Ghoul the next day at work.

Tsuneyoshi, on the other hand, simply frowned. "You won't be seeing that Ghoul again, Hideyoshi."

Hide had looked started at this. "But Grandpa, his son sounded nice! Mr. Kogami said his son liked TV and books and music just like me! He said we could be friends! And why are you calling him a ghoul? You always said ghouls were monsters like in scary movies. Mr. Kogami was a little creepy, but he was a normal person and I want to meet his son!" Hideyoshi was starting to cry again, so Yoshitoki knelt down by his side and pulled the boy into his embrace.

Tsuneyoshi maintained his stiff poise while the child all but threw a tantrum. "Take this as a lesson Hideyoshi, and learn it well. Ghouls hide in plain sight, and blend in with human society to hunt their prey. That is why -"

"Really, father?" Yoshitoki interrupted. "Do you need to give him this lecture now?"

Tsuneyoshi blinked, seemingly unaware of what he had done wrong. "The boy is a Washuu, he's going to need to learn about the true nature of what we fight sooner or later. He's going to have to fight these things, he can't afford to see them as people."

"He's _five years old_ , father! His babysitter was murdered and he was coaxed into playing with the body. _This is not the time._ " Yoshitoki adjusted his hold on the boy and picked him up. "Hide, we're going to go meet Mommy and get dinner and a treat. How does that sound?" Without waiting for permission or a protest from the other occupant of the room, Yoshitoki carried his son through the doorway.

Yoshitoki's wife was waiting for them, quickly taking her hysterical son out of his father's arms. Her lips were a hard line, and Yoshitoki could tell she was furious.

"I don't want that man involved in raising Hideyoshi anymore." she firmly informed Yoshitoki. She must have overhead what had just happened, and Yoshitoki couldn't blame her for coming to that decision.

He thought back to what Hide had said about the ghoul coming to pick him up. No, he didn't want to leave his son in this house right now. "I think it might be a good idea if you take Hide and go live with your parents for a while."

* * *

"We found the identity of the ghoul who bit Nagachika." Marude handed a case file to Yoshitoki.

The Washuu man looked at the name on the cover. "Eyepatch?"

Marude nodded. To his credit, he'd been exceptionally repentant recently in regards to Hideyoshi, and had bent over backwards to investigate whatever had caused the boy to get a bite from a ghoul. "He's the guy who survived Special Class Arima, though just barely. He's got the ownership rights and I think he plans on keeping it as a live specimen for Quinque production, but I'm sure if you talked to him and explained he'd agree to have it exterminated."

Yoshitoki opened the file. There were some paragraphs detailing the physical description of the ghoul, as well as some personal narratives from agents who had encountered the ghoul. Yoshitoki skimmed these paragraphs, looking for important details. Something that had initially bothered him about Hide's attacker was how it had only taken one bite and left, but from Amon's initial encounter that seemed to be the ghoul's MO.

Yoshitoki flipped a few pages and found several pictures. One was clearly from their sketch artist detailing what the ghoul supposedly looks like in its mask. Yoshitoki studied the square eyepatch and zippered teeth for a few moments before moving on. There were a few crime scene photos in the 20th ward and at Kanou's underground lab from back when they were still trying to understand how to catch this ghoul.

The last photos were of an eyeless, barely alive creature strapped down in one of the research department's dissection tables. For some reason, Yoshitoki felt like the ghoul looked familiar.

He turned the page to where theories were brought up and froze. Marude noticed and spoke up. "What's that doing there? I thought it only appeared in the 'Binge Eater" file. I wouldn't worry too much about that, it's all speculative and doesn't really concern this particular ghoul."

Yoshitoki didn't hear anything his colleague said. He recognized the face in the picture, or more accurately, he recognized what it meant to Hideyoshi. He may have never met the boy personally, but he'd heard enough stories about him and seen enough pictures from Hide to recognize one of the most important people in his son's life. He quickly read the explanation accompanying the picture, and realized that the details corresponded to what he already knew. He didn't know about Kanou's involvement, but if it was true that was troubling. Considering Hide's involvement in this, there was no way this was a coincidence.

"Who all worked on this case?" Yoshitoki inquired.

"Uh, there was a collaboration with those who were working on Rabbit, Binge Eater, and Gourmet, and I think all of them had a link to this case – Now that I think about it, I assigned Nagachika to assist on that collaboration."

Hideyoshi had worked on this case. He must have had something to do with the theory ending up in this case file. If there was anyone who could tell whether or not this was true, it was Hide.

"Tell Arima I'm interested in this ghoul." Yoshitoki informed Marude. "And ask him if he would mind talking to me. I want to wait until I get a chance to talk to Hideyoshi about it, but I strongly suspect I know what's going on with this ghoul"

* * *

Hideyoshi and his mother moved out of the Washuu house. At first they stayed with the Nagachikas, but that was an area with a lot of ghoul predatory cases and that made Yoshitoki nervous. After a while, he found an apartment in the safest ward in Tokyo and helped them move in. It was small, smaller than anything Yoshitoki had ever lived in, but it had what they needed and was safe.

For the first time since they had moved into the main Washuu house, Yoshitoki and his wife were able to act like a normal family. Every morning, she would give him a kiss as he left for work, which was earlier than normal since they were so far away from the 1st ward. In the evening, they would have dinner together and trade stories about their day. Yoshitoki would be sparse on the details about whatever case he was currently occupied with, his wife would chat about the neighborhood and what she'd learned from the neighbors, and Hide would excitedly detail everything that had happened at school.

"Well Hide, have you made any friends?" Yoshitoki asked one day, shortly after they started this little arrangement.

"Uh-huh!" the boy had replied, his mouth still full of rice. "Mu mom a mids –"

"Don't speak with your mouth full, dear." Hide's mother gently chastised him.

Hide quickly chewed and swallowed so he could get back to talking. "A lot of kids in my class seem nice, though all the girls have cooties, but my favorite friend has to be Kaneki! He's really quiet and likes to read all the time so some meanies like to make fun of him, but he never gets mad and I have to stick up for him. I don't mind though, 'cause he's really nice and my best friend in the whole wide world!"

Yoshitoki smiled when he heard this. He had been worried about how Hide would deal with the transition, especially while recovering from that incident with the ghoul, but the boy seemed to be doing well. Yes, we was still getting nightmares, but they had expected that. Yoshitoki had been particularly concerned with Hide getting attached to the ghoul's promise to give him a friend, but it looked like Hide had some good friends now.

"His father died a while back so he just lives with his mother," Hide continued to prattle on about his friend, "But other than that he's just a normal bookworm. I think you'd really like him, dad!"

 _A perfectly normal friend_ , Yoshitoki thought. _Exactly what Hide needs._

* * *

When Hideyoshi first woke up in the hospital, Yoshitoki was still at the office. He tried to get there as soon as possible, but the pain meds were starting to make the boy drowsy again. By the time Yoshitoki arrived, Hide wasn't as lucid as he'd hoped.

Still, the boy smiled at the sight of his father. "Hey Dad." Hide greeted Yoshitoki from his lounged position on the bed. "Guess this isn't how you planned on seeing me again, huh?"

Yoshitoki snorted. "No, it isn't. Anything but this would be preferable." He sat in a chair by the side of the bed, his expression turning serious. "Why didn't you tell me you took a part time job at the CCG? Better yet, why did you do it? I always thought you weren't interested in the family business."

Hide played with the blanket, tracing imaginary patterns with his finger. "I wouldn't say I wasn't ever interested. I mean, it's impossible to get away from the news where they talk about Ghoul attacks and the CCG's actions all the time. I knew what was out there, but I could also tell that you didn't want me to work there, so I just decided to ignore it all and focused on my own life and how the other people around me were."

Yoshitoki sighed. Now wasn't the time to lecture the boy on how reckless he was. "Listen, Hideyoshi, about that ghoul that attacked you –"

"Is he okay?" Hide interjected. "He wasn't killed, was he? Please, please don't let him be dead -"

Yoshitoki raised his hand to stop the boy from dissolving into hysterics again. "He's alive, and currently being held in one of the research division's labs."

When Hide heard this, his breath halted. "Really?"

Yoshitoki nodded. "Really."

The boy released the breath he probably didn't realize he was holding. Tears started falling from his eyes, leaving shiny wet trails down to his quivering lips. Small sobs wracked his body. The whole display made him appear to be incredibly vulnerable.

It was the first time Yoshitoki had seen his son cry in years. He couldn't tell whether he was crying from relief or worry, or some odd mix between the two.

"That ghoul – Eyepatch – he's your friend Kaneki, isn't he?" Yoshitoki whispered.

Hide wiped away his tears. "He was human, I know it. He could eat food, we used to go out for hamburgers all the time since his aunt wouldn't give him food at home... But then he went on that date. I could sense something was wrong with that girl, but I couldn't explain it, and he was so happy that such a cute girl was interested in him... Then he was in the hospital, and everything changed. He stayed away from me, every time we went to eat he would throw up, and he started getting so secretive. I know he just thought he needed to deal with this himself and I can't blame him, but when he went missing..."

Hide turned towards his father and sniffed a little before continuing. "He's a good guy, I've told you all about him so you should know. He didn't ask for this, he's just a victim of circumstances. Please, dad, you have to save him."

Yoshitoki slumped. Of all the things his son could have asked of him, it had to be this. "Hideyoshi, he's a ghoul."

"But it's not his fault!"

"Hide, there's literally no way I could justify letting any ghoul, much less an SS rate, go free. Regardless of circumstances, the fact remains that he would have no choice but to kill humans to eat. The only options for him now are to be killed and turned into a Quinque, or to spend the rest of his life behind bars."

Hide was crying again. "But- He's a person! He's already been through so much already. He didn't deserve any of this, and he certainly doesn't deserve that! If anything, he deserves a fresh start with no evil aunts or murdering dates so he can finally be truly happy."

Yoshitoki put his hand on Hide's shoulder to try and get him to calm down. "Look, Arima has the rights to him right now, but I can talk to him. I might be able to convince him to make sure Kaneki is treated humanely, or even get him to hand the rights over to me so I can protect him. It's not perfect, but it's the most I can do."

Hide's eyes brightened. "You'll do that?"

Yoshitoki nodded.

Hide finally relaxed. A comfortable silence fell between them, and Yoshitoki considered leaving to let his son get some much needed sleep. As he got up to do that, Hide spoke up again.

"Hey, could you contact mom? I haven't exactly told her about the part time job or anything, so she must be worried."

Yoshitoki stiffened. Oh yeah, that was not a conversation he was looking forward to.

* * *

By the time Hide turned 6, it was becoming more and more evident that their arrangement as a normal family wasn't working out as well as it had been. Yoshitoki was receiving promotions and more responsibilities, and that meant he had to spend more time in the first ward. He would have to get up early and stay late, to the point that Hide wouldn't be up by the time he left the house. In addition, that German family was in a discussion with the Washuu elders again, and Yoshitoki didn't want his wife and son mixed up in that mess, though he knew Yoshitoki himself would soon have to get involved. After a while, his family stopped waiting up for him to get home.

Yoshitoki still wanted it to work, though. He really did. He liked having someplace that was separate from his job and the Washuu family drama, where the most important people in his life could be safe. He liked coming home to kiss his wife and son goodnight, knowing that their days had been perfectly normal and safe. He liked having some connection to normalcy.

However, he was still worried. With all the terrible things Yoshitoki had seen as an investigator he had become paranoid. He was sure someone would follow him home and find out about his greatest weakness. He refused to tell any of his coworkers about Hide and his wife, afraid someone dangerous would overhear. They were in the safest ward, yes, but that didn't necessarily mean they were always safe. Eventually, Yoshitoki realized what was putting his family in danger the most: himself.

When he finally voiced his concerns to his wife, she wasn't happy.

"You're being paranoid, Yoshitoki." She was putting a portion of her home-cooked meal she had saved for her husband. She'd given up on waiting for him to come home for dinner a long time ago. "You're barely ever home as it is, and now you think you're putting us in danger just by being here? Do you want to completely alienate us?"

Yoshitoki shook his head. "You know that's not the case. I love you, and I love are son. That's why I want you guys to stay safe."

His wife snorted. "Sounds to me like you just really don't want this to work."

Yoshitoki tried to argue, but he couldn't find the words. He had never been good at arguing with his wife, and he knew any argument he made would just fall on deaf ears. Instead, he let the hum of the microwave break the tense silence.

When it beeped, Yoshitoki's wife put the food on the table so he could eat. "You know, maybe living apart for a while might not be that bad of an idea." After saying this, she walked away to go to bed.

Although this was what Yoshitoki had wanted when he came home, he knew that he didn't want it like this.

* * *

"Marude mentioned you wanted to talk to me about Centipede?" Arima, the Death Reaper of the CCG, had just closed the door so he could talk to Yoshitoki in private.

"Uh, yes, that's right." Despite having known the legendary investigator for a very long time, Yoshitoki (like many others) was still intimidated by the almost perfect investigator. "I was wondering what you planned on doing with him now?"

Arima sat down on the seat across from Yoshitoki. "Well, I already ordered a Quinque to be made, but I ordered them not to kill him yet. I want to see how it turns out, and maybe use him to harvest more kakuhou for quinques like Arata. At first, I wanted to interrogate him about Rabbit and Owl and other ghouls he might have connections to, but it seems that would be useless now."

Yoshitoki was surprised by that last comment. "What do you mean? How do you know it would be useless?"

"Well, he doesn't remember anything. Not even his own name."

Yoshitoki was dumbfounded. Hide's words came back to him. _If anything, he deserves a fresh start with no evil aunts or murdering dates so he can finally be truly happy_. The wheels in his head were starting to turn, developing a way for his son's wish could come true.

He reached into his desk and pulled out the file Marude had given him earlier, turned to the last page, and handed it to Arima. "Have you heard anything about this theory?"

Arima took the file and glanced at it. "It's not a theory, it's an accurate statement."

Yoshitoki was taken aback. "How do you know?"

"While we were fighting, he recited a poem," Arima explained seriously.

Yoshitoki decided it would be best to just accept that odd proof of identity and move on. "This is a really tragic case, and I don't think we should treat him as any other ghoul."

Arima nodded. "I agree, but I am also aware that we can't just let an SS rated ghoul go free. That's why I'm considering using him as a research specimen. I would have to keep an eye on the conditions he is being kept in, but it's the most humane option I can think of."

Yoshitoki looked at the file once more. He had the beginnings of an idea, but now that he tried to explain it he realized just how ridiculous it sounded. "Arima, what if there was an even better option? It would require a lot more effort, especially on your part, but would you be willing?"

Arima leaned forward in his chair. "I wasn't aware there was another option. What would I have to do?"

Yoshitoki bit his lip. "Do you think you could make him human again?"

Arima blinked. "I don't think I understand. Make him human? The researchers have tried, but they all agree what Kanou did is irreversible with our current understanding of ghoul and human biology. If you want me to teach him how to act human I could, but no amount of training could change biology or the fact that he can't eat anything but humans."

"Yes, but what if we provide him with food? It would be the same as if he were in Cochlea or a research facility, except he could still have some freedom. Sure, we may want to keep tabs on him some way, but if you teach him how to act human -"

"That sounds like a good idea," Arima interrupted, "but it would require a lot of resources. Resources that would need the Chairman's approval, and I doubt he'd agree to something that didn't benefit the CCG in some way. I'm willing to help, but only if everyone involved agrees."

Something that benefits the CCG. The last piece of the puzzle clicked into place, Yoshitoki looked Arima in the eye directly.

"Arima, do you think you could train him to be an investigator?"

Arima showed the barest hint of a smile. "That I would be happy to do."


End file.
